Add a Drop’ of Cheer’ to your food

Sun Drop and Cheerwine aren’t just for drinking anymore. These regional soda favorites are making names for themselves as the main ingredients in desserts, punches and foods.

Andrea Honaker / Staff Writer

Sun Drop and Cheerwine aren’t just for drinking anymore. These regional soda favorites are making names for themselves as the main ingredients in desserts, punches and foods.

The drinks have been quenching thirsts across the region and the country for decades now. Citrus-flavored Sun Drop made its debut in St. Louis, Mo., in 1951, while cherry-flavored Cheerwine’s origins go back to Salisbury, in 1917. And now, they’re gracing menus and recipes.

In our area, you can find Sun Drop-flavored wings at Freeman’s Pub, Cherry Lemon Sun Drop cupcakes at Jenn’s Sugarlicious Bakery, and a Cherry Lemon Sun Drop specialty drink at RO’s Bar-B-Cue and Tommy’s Drive In. And who can forget Krispy Kreme’s limited-offer Cheerwine -flavored doughnut that hit store shelves in July 2010 and July 2011. Let’s hope they make a return engagement.

Be adventurous and adapt your favorite recipes using these sodas. Try using Sun Drop for dishes that call for lemon-lime beverages, and substitute Cheerwine for ones that call for cola.

Here are a few recipes that feature Cheerwine or Sun Drop to help you show some regional love in the kitchen, including the classic Sun Drop Pound Cake and Cheerwine Cupcakes:

Sun Drop Pound Cake (with photo)

From drinksundrop.com

5 eggs

3 cups sugar

3 cups plain sifted flour

2 sticks butter or margarine

½ cup shortening

1 tsp. vanilla flavoring

1 tsp. lemon flavoring

6 ounces regular Sun Drop

Cream butter or margarine and shortening, adding sugar gradually. Add eggs, one at a time, and continue beating well after each addition. Slowly blend in flavoring, flour one cup at a time and Sun Drop. Turn into a large greased and floured tube pan. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until cake tests done. Turn out on rack to cool.

Frosting Glaze

2 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar

2 ounces regular Sun Drop

2 Tbs. butter or margarine

Prepare frosting glaze by melting butter or margarine and blend with confectioner's sugar and Sun Drop. Spoon glaze over warm cake, out of pan, on rack over waxed paper; spoon glaze that slides off cake back up over cake.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with 18 cupcake liners and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt and set aside. In another medium bowl, whisk together the Cheerwine and milk.

Add the eggs, one at a time, to the butter-sugar mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients in three batches, starting and ending with the flour mixture and mixing until just combined.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop 4 spoonfuls of batter into muffin liners so that are approximately ¾ full. Bake for 16-18 minutes in the center of the oven or until cupcakes are set and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in muffin pan for 2-3 minutes, then move to cooling rack to finish cooling.

Frosting: Using a mixer, beat the butter at medium speed for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder. Turn off the mixer and add the sugar-cocoa mixture, then combine on low speed. Increase the speed to medium and add the vanilla, salt and milk. Mix for 3 minutes. Place frosting in a piping bag or using a frosting spatula ice the cupcakes with approximately 1 tablespoon of frosting. Serve at room temperature.

* Note: If you don’t have a double boiler, use a small to medium-sized pot and an ovenproof bowl that will fit inside the pot without resting at the bottom. Fill the pot about ¼ full of water, making sure the bottom of the ovenproof bowl does not touch the water.